Sloan students become consultants

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This fall four second-year master's students at the Sloan School have launched the MBA Consulting Group, a company designed to provide high-quality consulting services in corporate strategy, market research, operations management and information technologies to outside firms at reasonable costs.

"We are certain there's a huge opportunity in consulting services, especially to small and medium-sized firms," said Keba Keinde, a founder and president of the Group. "We also believe that Sloan students can benefit from this opportunity by applying their skills to real situations while they earn a part-time salary.

"We are encouraged by the students' enthusiastic response and the guidance offered by Sloan faculty and administration. However, people should understand that MBA Consulting Group is completely separate and independent from MIT. In no way can MIT be held liable or accountable for the group's work," Mr. Keinde added.

The idea for MBA Consulting Group germinated through changes and events of last year. The business press was continually questioning the relevancy of MBA degrees, and to make matters worse, Sloan's rank on Business Week's top B-School list dropped from 11th place in 1990 to 13th in 1992.

At the same time Sloan was in the process of reengineering: a new dean would be taking over in the fall and a new core curriculum for the master's program was being developed.

When students were brainstorming about ways to improve their Sloan experience, Mr. Keinde suggested a student-run consulting company. He and classmate Edouard de Vitry had had positive experiences during their undergraduate years in France as managers of Junior Enterprises, a successful and respected student-run consulting company that involves several hundred students from many different French schools.

The four students who ultimately founded MBA Consulting Group have strong entrepreneurial interests and experiences. Mr. Keinde started a computer networking company in his native Senegal, Mr. de Vitry was involved in financial services in France, Julie Chang helped found an electronic publishing company in New York, and Melissa Raffoni is involved in a family business in Boston. All four founders felt strongly that a consulting company similar in concept to Junior Enterprises not only could be successful but that it could also add value to the Sloan experience by improving its visibility in the business community and helping students in their career development.

Alumni who would like to learn more about MBA Consulting Group and the services it offers can call (617) 253-3183 or e-mail the Group at .